The four thieves stared down at the corpse. Ishno, the leader, put his head in his hands, trying to assuage the headache.
“Meathrop, Meathrop…” he said, looking over at the man, who was grinning sheepishly and holding a bloody dagger. “The wasn’t part of the plan!”
“I know, Boss,” he replied, “But… just look at him!” He waved his hands at the body. “Full body armor, guns, an alarm button on his sleeve! Wh-what was I supposed to do? Knock him out!”
“YES!”
The four looked at each other in confusion.
“Look, guys,” said Stebbing, the second oldest, “we came to this facility to steal…?”
“Prototype weapons,” the others said in unison. He tested them like this every ten minutes or so.
“And a little thing like murder shouldn’t get in our way. Not anymore, now that we’re on this level. Besides…” he said contemplatively, “it was merely self-defense.”
“Um,” Meathrop said.
“Yes?”
“Is it self-defense if you snuck up on them?”
“No,” Stebbing said. “So does anyone have a plan?”